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STATE OF THE UNION 



SPEECH 



HON. WILLIAM HOWARD, OF OHIO, 



IN THE HOUSE OF KEPRESB:NTATIVES, JANUARY 80, 1861. 




The House having uikIit considorallon tlie report IVoiii 
the select eommiltrc ot" thirly-threi; — 

Mr. HOWARD, of Ohio, .said: 

Mr. Speaker: We iiave nrrived at a period in 
the history of our country whicli was never cvnn 
dreami'd of by thf gallant and fiir-secing men who 
signed the Declaration of Independence, and the 
Btatesinen who framed the national Constitution. 
They never conceived the idea that, in the short 
space of eighty-four year.s, our population would 
have increased from three to thirty million; that 
our territory would have occupied a geograp!i- 
ical area of thrt'e million three hundred thousand 
square miles; and that the taxable property of our 
nrosperou.s and industriou.s people would have 
increased to the enormous sum of ^40, 000, 000, UOO; 
that our foreign trade would have advanced from 
<|8,000,000 to $800,000,000 annually; tliat the 
btates of the Union would have numbered thirty- 
three; and that all civilized nations would have 
bowed in humble reverence before the supremacy 
of our power. Such, at this day, is the position 
that the North American Republic occupies in the 
great family of nations. 

Butcouki they again have lifted the vail of tliat 
mysterious future, and have seen that, in 18(i0and 
1861, in the very midst of such unparalleled pros- 
perity, we should have been falling to pieces, and 
crushed out of existence by the weight of our own 
power, they would have shrunk froiu iht- im- 
portance and responsibility of their work, and left 
us to struggle on in our oppression to a foreign 
yoke; and their ]>ens would liave fallen powerless 
and paralyzed from their hatids, could tlx-y have 
imagined for a moment that, at this day, sur- 
rounded by such exalted ad vantages, commanding 
such ]irofound respect, we should, for such light 
andtriflingcauses,and by our ownovt^rtacts, have 
placed ourselves u]ion the very verge of destruc- ; 
tion and dissolution; could they have thoughtthat, 
at 80 early a period of our country's history, we 
should have brought upon ourselves the contemiU 
of other nations, and tliat they would be laughing 
at our calamities, and mocking when our fear 
cometh, and that they would be smiling the de- 
moniac smile of delight because our destruction 
is coming upon us like a whirlwind. Even with 
all the defects that can be traced out by the most 
fervid imagination, do we not owe all that we are, 
that we have been, or that we will be in all future 
time, to the Union, as we have received it from 
our noble ancestry .' We, .sir, are responsible for 



its safe transmission to our immediate successors; 
and they again to theirs, until it reaches, by lin- 
eal and collateral descents, the most distant futu- 
rity. We have in it no other title than a life-es- 
tate, and have IK) right to lay up<in it violent 
hands, and break the chain thai is to carry it to 
our children and our childn-n 's children, to the 
remotest period of time. 

Mr. Speaker, the day has gone by when we 
may manufacture political capital from passing 
events; for the time has fairly arrived when all true 
patriots must throw aside all political distinction 
and ditrer(nce,and meet together upon a common 
platform, and exert our whole energies to the ut- 
most tension to save our sinking country from 
utter ruin and desolation. He who now refuses 
to do so is recreant in his duty to his country, to 
his God, and to all posterity; for the mysterious 
Mover of nature, the universal I^ord of being, 
that God that in the immensity of his works di- 
rects the movements of all nations, will hold tliis 
people res)ionsible for the preservation of our na- 
tional privileges. We pray God liiat in this case, 
as in all others, He may make the wrath of man 
to praise Him, and that the remainder of wrath 
He may restrain; and that future generations 
may be spared the [>ain of serious contemplation 
over the ruined splendorof ourachievcments and 
the memory of our fallen greatness. We know 
that all human power cannot previMit the dictates 
of destiny, which is the voice at' Divinity. Sir, 
every lover of his country should humble himself 
in sackcloth and ashes, that our doom, which 
seemingly is sealed, may be averted, as was an- 
cient Nineveh, even after the prophet of God, by 
his express commands, had proclaimed her im- 
mediate and terrible destruction. 

If we allow this nation to be destroyed, when 
we have the power within our own hands to per- 
petuate it, history will hold us responsible; and 
no argument that we can now place upon record 
will be sufficii'Ut to hush to silence the voice and 
judgment of an outraged and defrauded posterity. 
And though, under tlie heat and e.xcitementof the 
hour, we may think the cause sufficient to justify 
the effect, yet, in the estimation of a cool and col- 
lected posterity, the cause will be considered but 
as the dust of the balan(;e; and they will justly 
consign to perpetual infamy the memory, not only 
of those who did the act, but of all those' who did 
not exert all the energies conferred upon them in 
its prevention. Upon the members of the Thirty- 



H 



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Sixth Congress of llie United States vests the des- 
tiny of this Republic; and to you the future his- 
torian will point perpetually either the finger of 
scorn and contempt, or will deeply inscribe your 
names upon the dial-plate of our country 's records 
as the sure gnomon that is to indicate upon its 
face its perpetual motions through the annals of 
time. 

■ You cannot screen yourselves behind the flimsy 
^auze of a want of example; for the last eighteen 
hundred years have borne down before them the 
wreck of empires, kingdoms, and republics. They 
have risen, culminated, and fallen; and can we close 
our eyes against the causes which have brought 
about such fatal revolutions; and can we fail to 
profit by their precept, and evade the rock upon 
which they split.' And do they not stand as buoys 
and beacon lights even in their darkness and deso- 
lation to point us to a surer harbor of safety ? Six 
stars of various magnitude have glided solemnly, 
though certainly, from our constellation, where, 
but a few days since, they reposed in peaceful se- 
curity in their places; and nine others are show- 
ing evident signs of the disturbance of the center of 
their system; and yet, we are merely disinterested 
and deliberate spectators of this disruption, while 
the whole civilized world is looking with horror 
and astonishment upon our inactivity and indif- 
ference. And again, sir; heretofore the genius of 
the nation has always been suflicient for every 
emergency; and this can be successfully met, if 
we present before it but a bold front. I have tried 
to study thedestiny of the Republic. I have tried 
to examine, carefully and candidly, the causes of 
the present discontent and distrust; and 1 now 
believe that none that have yet transpired have 
been sufficient to Justify secession and separation. 
And I believe the national Government possesses 
the inherent power, by the laws and Constituticm 
of the United States, to prevent a State or States 
from seceding, and to bring any State back into 
the Union, even after its separation. But I be- 
lieve, also, that every means should be resorted to, 
within the grasp of our power, to bring back the 
erring member into the family of States before 
an appeal to force. It is the duty of the states- 
man and patriot to examine tlioroughly the causes 
of the existing evils, whether they are either real 
or imagmary, and to act at once, without hesita- 
tion or delay, and remove and correct them. 

I would understand that this Union is a con- 
tract; that no State can come into the Union with- 
out the consent of the other States; and once she 
lakes her stand as one of the parties of this Con- 
federacy, she cannot leave it without the consent 
of the other States-, and any attempt to do so is 
a violation of the contract. And, as we under- 
.stand it, every wrong has its rented y; and if that 
be so, the only question is, how that remedy shall 
be enforced? Now, I admit to the fullest extent 
the sovereignty of the people, and the rights of 
the Slates; yet, when they come into the Union, 
and give in their adherence to the Federal Govern- 
ment, they yield up certain rights for the benefit 
of the whole; and one of those rights given away, 
is their right, by their own consent, to resolve 
themselves bade into tlieir original eliini-nt at any 
lime, and at their own pleasure. Tiien, sir, every 
individual, yes, every State, should be held to 
strict obedience to the Constitution and laws of 
the United States, while the legislative enactments 



of the national Government are in accordance witli 
her own Constitution. 

Sir, it would be futile to attempt to close our 
eyes against the danger to which we are this day 
exposed. But what has led us to our present per- 
ilous position.' Why are we this day standing, 
as it were, upon the very verge of our national 
ruin .' It can all be traced to the direct violation 
of thelawsand Constitution of ournationai Union. 

Now, the Constitution of the United States 
makes express provision for the recapture of fu- 
gitives from labor; and in pursuance of that pro- 
vision of the Constitution, the national Legisla- 
ture, in 1793, passed a fugitive slave law; and that 
act, for the purpose of making it more effective, 
was amended or reconstructed in 1850. In every 
case in which that act has come before any court 
of competent jurisdiction they have always pro- 
nounced it constitutional; and even before the 
President would place his signature to that act, 
he presented the question of its constitutionality 
to his Attorney General, (Mr. Crittenden,) at that 
day, as now, one of the most masterly statesmen 
and best lawyers in the Union; and he, after due 
reflection, pronounced the act constitutional. The 
Supreme Court of the United States have again 
and again pronounced the same judgment upon 
the same act. 

Sir, it is an undeniable fact that the execution 
of this law has been obstructed in every manner 
that could be devised by the most masterly intel- 
lects in the Republican party. And again, sir. 
twelve sovereign States of this Union have inter- 
posed their legislative authority to prevent and 
obstruct the execution of that law. Now, this is 
nullification to the very fullest extent; and these 
States are as guilty as was South Carolina in 1833. 
They have set an example of the violation of law 
that is returning upon their own heads with an 
irresistible fury. They have opened tiie flood- 
gates of disobedience, that is about to sweep before 
it to certain destruction all the elementsof a well- 
organized Government. 

If a State reserved to herself the right to secede 
from the Confederacy, the conditions upon which 
she intended to secede should have been clearly 
defined at the time she entered the compact; and 
then each State would understand upon v/hat con- 
ditions each of the other members of the family 
occupied their positions within the common circle. 
And if a State comes into the Union reserving to 
herself the tacit right to withdraw from the com- 
pact whenever her rights, in her own estimation, 
have been violated, it is a fraud upon the other 
contracting parties. Now, admit the right of a 
State to secede at pleasure, or even allow her to 
be the judge of the causes suflicient to warrant her 
separation, and it is the end of all government, 
and system and order are thrown into chaos and 
confusion. The Constitution of the United States 
provides for the admission of new States into the 
compact, but nowhere, either by word or even 
implication, does that instrument make provision 
for the secession of a State or States; and hence 
any attempt at the same is a direct violation of that 
article. That instrument was intended to bind to- 
gether the States, and each one is an additional link 
in the great chain. All civilized society is based 
upon strict obedience to law, and hence the ne- 
cessity of establishing proper tribunals to which 
individual citizens can resort to have their rights 



established and their wrongs redressed. And no 
single individual can be allowed to avenge his 
own supposed injuries, for, in such a case, society 
could have no guarantee for its safety a single 
day, and courts and juries would become a nul- 
lity. If a State within the Confederacy supposes 
that the peace and safety of herself and the peace 
and safety of her institutions are endanger(!d by 
remaining longer within the Union, she should, at 
least, submit her causes of complaint before some 
disinterested umpire, and leave it to the judgment 
of the same, after full examination of all the evi- 
dence in the case. This Union, under our Con- 
stitution and laws, was intended to be perpetual, 
and hence their silence upon all questions involv- 
ing the right of separation. 

Now, sir, it was the design of the framers of 
our national Government that we should live to- 
gether in perfect peace and harmony. And how- 
ever obnoxious the peculiar institutions of one 
section may be to the particular training and edu- 
cation of the others, it is no just excuse for com- 
plaint; but, upon the other hand, they are, under 
that tacit allegiance they owe to the laws and 
Government of the nation, not only bound to tol- 
erate their existence, but to preserve and protect 
them in their full use and occupation. And had 
this idea been kept steadily before the public 
mind, and had it always been faithfully and fer- 
vently obeyed and adhered to, we should this day 
have been occupying that proud position which 
has heretofore so emphatically characterized us as 
a nation; and we would have still been living in 
that harmonious union which wa.s intended for 
us by our ancestors even before the foundation of 
our free and enlightened institutions. That great 
statesman, Andrew Jackson, says, in his cele- 
brated proclamation in the case of South Carolina, 
that— 

"In our colonial state, although dependent on another 
Power, w<! very early considered ourselves as connected 
by common interest with each other. lA^agues were formed 
tor coiniiinn defense; and before the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, we were known in our aggregate character as 
THE UNITED COLONIES OF AMERICA. That decisive and 
important step was taken jointly. We declared ourselves 
a nation by a joint, not by several acts ; and when the terms 
of our Confederation Vere reduced to Ibrni. it was iri that 
of a solemn league of several Slates, by which they agreed 
that they would collectively form one nation for the pur- 
pose of (.'onducting some certain domestic concerns and all 
foreign relations. In the instrument forming that Union, is 
found an article which declares that ' every State shall 
abide by the determinations of Congress on all questions 
which, by that Confederation, should be submitted to 
tJiem.'" 

But it is now too late to reason upon these im- 
portant questions, for I fear that the armless hand 
of destiny is tracing our inevitable destruction 
upon the wall in legible characters, too plain to be 
misunderstood, and that it will require no Daniel 
to be brought forth from his ]3rison to the palace 
to give them their true interpretation. 

But, Mr. Speaker, let us examine the history 
of the past to see if we can discover the causes 
which liave contributed to bring about the dan- 
gers which now threaten to mingle in one pro- 
miscuous ruin our happy and prosperous coun- 
try. Let the question be seriously asked, why it 
is that States are seceding from the Union, and 
that this great Confederacy — the masterpiece of 
the most illustrious men that ever graced or hon- 
ored this or any other nation — has been torn asun- 
der.' These present difficulties are not the spon- 



taneous production of a day, but of the unceasing 
and untiring thn^als, taunts, and insults of years. 
Bad faith, disobedience of law, and a host of other 
evils, havi; brought ujion us our present alarm- 
ing and truly appalling condition. In pursuance 
of that provision of the Constitution for the re- 
capture of fugitives from labor, Congress, in 1793, 
defined the mode, manner, and meansof recapture; 
and, in 1850, passed an act, amendatory of that 
act, making it more effective in its operations. 

Then I ask, has this law been obeyed and en- 
forced in the northern States? Every one who 
is acquainted with the history of the country, is 
ready to answer in the negative. It is these acts 
of disobedience upon the part of the noriherri 
States, that are so rapidly alienating the two sec- 
tions from each other, and digging an impassa- 
ble gulf between people that should have always 
been one, and which demands at the hands of all 
loyal and lav/-abiding citizens an open condem- 
nation and reproach. Twelve of the northern 
States have not only refused to enforce its pro- 
visions, but have actually passed laws in direct 
violation of its spirit and letter, and in hinderance 
of its execution. When a Stale interposes its 
legislative authority to obstruct the due execution 
and enforcement of one of the constitutional acts 
of our National Legislature, she is as guilty of 
nullification as was South Carolina in 1833, when 
she interposed her legislative authority in obstruc- 
tion of the revenue laws of the United States. 
However obnoxious a law may be to our own 
sense of right and wrong, we, for the peace and 
safety of the nation, should strictly obey until the 
same is repealed, or its obnoxious features arc 
removed by the power that created it. If we in- 
tend to set at naught the laws of the Stale and 
nation to which we look for protection and safety 
because they do not meet our preconceived and 
predetermined notions of justice, let us cease to 
condemn the pirates thai infest our high seas, plun- 
der our vessels, murder the crews and unotTeuding 
passengers; let us cease to condemn the midnight 
assassin that plunges his dagger to your heart 
merely to get possession of your purse; let us cea.se 
to condemn the whole catalogue of crime; for it is 
only a violation of law, without which it would 
cease to be criminal. When we place ourselves 
in such a situation, we are upon a political .sea 
without compass or polar star. Listen to what 
the hero of New Orleans says upon that question, 
' in the same proclamation: 

" I consider, then, the power to aniuil a law of the L'ni- 

1 led States, assumed by one StaU', incompatible with the 

! existence of the Union, contrad icted e.\prc^sly by the letter 

of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent 

with everv principle on which it was founded, and di'struc- 

Uve of the great object for which it w;vs formed." 

Such was the opinion of Andrew Jackson atthat 
day, and that ai tempted nullification of the laws 
of the United Slates he fearlessly and promptly 
suppressed; and for that act, more than any other 
of his life, he has received the applause and ap- 
probation of the people of the whole Union. 

Then, sir, in this case, it is very evident that 
the northern Slates were the aggressors; and, if 
they really, at heart, desire the preservation of 
the'Union, let them first correct the errors at home. 
Let them do equity before they demand equity at 
the hands of others. Let them come into court 
,; with clean hands and pure hearts; for they laid the 
ii foundation of the present difficulties and dangers 



thai now beset us, by the nullifying; acts of their 
own Legislatures. Let the northern States im- 
mediately and without delay repeal the obnoxious 
laws that now are on their statute-books. Let 
them cease to obstruct the enforcement of the 
fugitive slave law. Let the executives of those 
States respond promptly to the legal demand of 
the southern States, and yield up the fleeing crim- 
inal to justice to be tried by .the iasvs of the States 
which he has violated, and not undertake to ob- 
struct the settled comity of States by the inter- 
position of pettifogging technicality. Let them 
cease their incessant abuse, vilification, and mis- 
representation of their southern brethren. Let 
them cease to make crime honorable by holding 
out rewards and inducements for its commission. 
Let them cease to commission and send forth 
their emissaries to stir up the unsuspecting slave 
to insurrection, to murder, rape, arson, and all 
other crimes known and recognized by the calen- 
dar, not that they have the slightest interest in the 
happiness and welfare of the slave, but that they 
may use his condition for political effect. Let them 
cease to entice the slave iVom his master, and to 
remove him beyond his reach and control. Let 
them cease to endanger the liberty and happiness 
of twenty-six million people to obtain that of four. 
Let them not stand up in the Halls of the national 
Legislature and boast that they are eighteen mil- 
lion strong, and they are prepared in their strength 
for their southern brethren if they do not submit 
to such terms as they may dictate. Let them 
themselves be loyal to the laws, the Constitution, 
and Union, before they demand and enforce loy- 
alty at the hands of others. Let them do these 
things; for every evil which I have enumerated is 
in existence among them, and not one has, in the 
slightest degree, been exaggerated. 

We have attempted thus honestly and fairly to 
portraj'' to the public mind the undeniable evils 
that exist in the northern States; and for the safety 
and preservation of the Union, we are decidedly 
in favor of bringing to bear upon them all the legal 
and constitutional powers of the national Govern- 
ment for their suppression. There are two little 
States of this Union whose incessant disloyalty 
has disturbed the harmony of the whole, more 
than all the others combiiu'd. They are always 
imagining tliat the hand of the oppressor is upon 
them , and that tiieir rights and liberties are always 
endangered unless they separate themselves from 
the Confederacy, place themselves in a posture of 
defense, and protect themselves against the assaults 
and tyranny of the whole force of tiie Union. 
Now, sir, there is no man who could have a more 
exalted opinion of their bravei-y and independence 
than myself; but it seems to me they too fre- 
quently consider themselves insulted to have some 
plausible pretext upon which th(;y may have the 
privilege of insulting tin- whole balance of the 
Union. From lyOH, at the time of the embargo, 
up to 1815, the close of \lic last Knglish and Amer- 
ican war, Massachusetts exhibited so much dis- 
loyalty, and so frequently threatened to separate 
herself from the Confederacy, that the English 
nation, presuming that she was in earnest, actu- 
ally sent a fleet to her assistance, and otfered to 
take her in charge; but as soon as she beheld the 
flag of her ancient enemy, she immediately re- 
turned to her allegiance under the national flag, 
which is always the safest and most exalted po- , 



sition thatanyState can possibly occupy. During 
the war of 1812, the whole New England States 
rejoiced at the success of the British arms, and 
again and again mourned over American victo- 
ries.. Their journals were loud in their applause 
of the cause of the enemy, and bold and open in 
condemnation of the success of their own country- 
men; and the battles of New Orleans and the 
lakes were hailed by them as harbingers of evil 
and iniquity, simply because they drove from the 
nation its enemies, which they had become to re- 
gard their special friends. And again: Massachu- 
setts placed uponlier records a resolution at that 
time, v/hich we will not quote here, for it was ex- 
punged in 1824, but which has placed upon her fair 
escutcheon a stain which cannot be effaced through 
the annals of time. 

Mr. Speaker, again, at the time the great State 
of Texas was taken into the Union, this little 
State became so exasperated because she was not 
exclusively consulted upon the question, that, 
while that great State was. coming in upon one 
side, and swelling to a vast extent this mighty 
empire, she was threatening to leave upon the 
other side, and break up the equilibrium of the 
Union. And to make a full exhibition of her ob- 
stinacy in the case, she actually placed upon her 
State records these resolutions: 

" 1. Resoheil, ThatMasjiachusetts has never delegated the 
power to admit into the Union States or Territories with- 
out or beyond tlie original Territories of the States and Ter- 
ritories belonging to the Union at the adoption of the Con- 
stitution of the United States; and that in whatever manner 
the consent of Massachusetts may have been given or 
inferred to the admission of the States already, by gen- 
eral consent, forming part of the Union, from sucii territory-, 
the admission of States, in the judgment of Massachusetts, 
forms no precedent for the admission of Texas, and caii 
never be interpreted to rest on powers granted in the Con- 
stitution. 

"•2. Resolved, That there has hitherto been no precedent 
of an admission of a foreign State or foreign territory into 
the Union by legislation ; and as the powers of legislation 
granted in the Constitution of the United States to Con- 
gress do not embrace a case of the admission of a foreign 
Stateorforeign territory, by legislation, into the Union, such 
an act of admission would have no binding force whatever 
on the people of Massachusetts." 

And, again: on another occasion, they passed 
the following: / 

•' Resoh-ed. That Massachusetts hereby refuses to ac- 
knowledge the act of the Government of tlie United Slates 
authorizing the admission of Texas, as a legal act in any 
way binding herfroni using her utn)ost exertions in cooper- 
ation with other Stales, by every lawful and constitutional 
measure, to annul its conditions and defeat its accomplisli- 
nient." 

Now, sir, does she not expressly state there 
that she will not be bound by the acts of the na- 
tional Congress.' That although passed by the 
people's representatives in Congress assembled, 
which was ]3resumed to "be the voice of the people 
themselves, and although it received the signature 
of the President of the Union, yet she takes upon 
herself the responsibility of repudiating the whole 
thing, simply because it does not happen to meet 
her views of natiimal policy.' 

Mr. Speaker, is not this a direct disoliedience 
of law, and are we not this day witnessing the 
fearful results of such destructive disloyalty, in the 
breaking up of the mightiest nation upon heaven's 
footstool.' 

But, sir, we would suppose that these New 
England Slates, with the great State of New York, 
think that the whole moral and political condi- 
tion of the nation was intrusted exclusively to 



them: «tid in all the Pharasaical sympathy of their 
souls, take upon themselves the responsibility of! 
the same, without even the sliglitest idea that they 
themselves have a single moral evil among thorn, ; 
or a single political sin to answer for. Did they 
ever think that their own common prisons are 
crowded to overflowing with criminals, and that 
the State prisons of New York contain more con- 
victs than all the penitentiaries of all the southern 
States? I 

Mr. SICKLES. Mr. Speaker, let me say to 
my friend from Ohio, that I have not examined the 
statistics of the prisons; but if it be as he states 
it, I have to say they do not all come from the j 
State of New York. I 

Mr. HOWARD, of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I 
will admit that my friend, or the people of his ■ 
State, have never stopped to study the moral con- 
dition of their own State; but they are very care- 
ful in the exhibition of the sins of other people; 
for, in the self-righteousness of thiir souls, they 
have never supposed there was any iniquity at ; 
their own doors. ! 

Mr. GOOCH. Mr. Speaker, let me say to my | 
friend from Ohio, that the reason why there are 
so many convicts in the State prison of Massa- , 
chusetts is because all persons that ought to be 
there are there; while I cannot say the same for '. 
other States. j 

Mr. HOWARD, of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, do I 
understand my friend from Massachusetts to say ! 
that all persons are in prison in his State who ' 
ought to be there.' If that be the case, allow me 
to ask him if there is not a great part of his pop- 
ulation there, then.' [Laughter.] But, Mr. 
Speaker, it is not my province to cover up the 
evils of the people of any part of this Union; for 
I would warn the.se seceding southern States to 
be careful and thoroughly examine the whole 
question, to see if the case will justify the eflects, 
not in their own estimation, but in the estimation 
of posterity, who is to be your judge; for recol- 
lect that Massachusetts and other disloyal States 
might have thought at the time that their injuries 
were .sutfieient, and that they were sulFering un- 
bearable injustice at the hands of their country; 
but they now feel that they have placed upon 
themselves a stain that cannot be effaced and 
washed out by time and a faithful repentance. 

And such will be the fate of these seceding 
States; and such v;ill be the imputation cast upon 
all who contribute the smallest iota in the break- 
in"- up of this glorious Union of States. Look, 
sir, at their prosperity since the beginning of the 
Government; their trade has increased from 
§3,000,000 to *,3.50,000,000; their wealth has ad- 
vanced to §-20 ,000,000, 000; their population from 
one and one half to twelve million; her geograph- 
ical area is nine hundred thousand square miles, 
and her prosperity has been unparalleled; her na- 
tional position unequaled for natural advantages, 
and her political greatness is unrivaled. And 
how has she thus swelled to such magnificent 
magnitude .= All under the benign influi'nce of the 
national Government, and all under the protec- 
tion of the national flag; and can she thus break 
up the one and insult the other.' 

Thisis the best Governmenlupon theface of the 

earth; and we do not believe that any State can find 

. a just and sulHcient cause to separate herself from 

it. South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Geor- 



gia, Louisiana, and Florida, have recently, in sol- 
emn convention assembled, passed ordinances of 
secession, and no longer consider themselves as 
partandparcelof this great Confederacy of Slates. 
The whole nation seems to be agitated and appalled 
from center to circumference; and a revolution 
solemnly, though certainly, seems to be making 
rapid strides in our midst. Now, sir, what has 
either one of these seceding States suffered at the 
hands of the Federal Government, to thus, with- 
out cause or provocation, break up a union of 
States that gives protection, not only to every 
State, but every citizen of every State ? 

Wliat is the reason assigned by each one of 
those States for the fatal and important step so 
hastily taken.' The election of Lincoln to the 
Presidency of the United States, who is a Repub- 
lican. And we must say that, however much we 
regret the occurrence of that foct, yet it is no just 
cause for the step thus taken. Now, no citizen 
even of those State.? can deny that Mr. Lincoln 
was legally and constitutionally elected to that 
high position; and that being the case, it is not 
only the duty of every law-abiding citizen to 
tacitly submit, but to lend all aid in his Solemn in- 
auguration according to the due forms of law, and 
then to await patiently the development of his 
administration. And then , if it does not, like the 
dews of heaven, fall alike upon all classes, then,' 
and not till then, let our voices be heard. And if 
that is done, and the President should ever at- 
tempt any overt act by which he should even 
attempt to interfere witii the established institu- 
tions of any section, we pledge the sympathy and 
support of a half million of freemen to their pro- 
tection and support from the Northwest. We 
think that it is going a step too far to presume, in 
the advance of taking his seat, that the Executive 
will take any measures to apply to practice the irre- 
pressible conflict doctrine, and under that violent 
presumption to lay violent hands upon the Union 
of the States. We regret sincerely the success of 
the Republican party in the recent presidential 
campaign; but we must acknowledge that it has 
all the forms of law to support it. 

We believe the seceding States do not pretend 
to be acting upon anything whi-^h has already 
transpired, but upon that which is to occur; and 
they are only fearful that the incoming Admin- 
istration will do something which will operate 
deletcriously upon their peculiar institution, and 
which is to result in its final extinction. The 
President elect has said that slave and free States 
cannot exist together; that they must all become 
one or the other; that they were incompatible in 
principle; and must one or the other yield. But, 
sir, every intelligent man must know that, al- 
though that assertion was made by Mr. Lincoln, 
and that upon that assertion the Republican party 
seized upon him, and, under the excitement of the 
hour, elected him President of the United States, 
yet it is false, and the whole experience of our 
constitutional existence proves it to be false; for 
there are at this day more slave States than the 
whole Union contained, both free and slave, in 
its inception, besides a greater number of free 
States even than slave. Then, sir, no region of 
this nation, whatever may be its peculiar insti- 
tutions, has anything to apprehend from apoliti- 
cal principle based upon an jjntruth. 

Mr. Speaker, I am truly rejoiced to know that 



i 



6 



my colleague [Mr. Sherman] has at last come to 
the conclusion that, for the safety and preserva- 
tion of this Union, the Constitution must he ob- 
served and the lavi/'s must be enforced. And I 
regret that the whoje R,epublioan party had not I 
discovered that important fact long since, for it 
would have saved this nation from its present per- 
ilons crisis. Then, sir, I cannot believe that any 
of these seceding States had a just, or at least 
sufficient, cause for so hastily and abruptly break- 
ing off their connection with this Confederacy; 
for we consider it as a self-evident proposition 
that ours is tiie best system of Government ever 
produced by liuman ingenuity for the happiness 
and prosperity of any people, and all who cannot 
live within its pale and precincts (!o not deserve 
to have a Government. And tho.se who stand 
upon this floor and talk so loudly about its oppres- 
sion, its tyranny, its corruption, and its unequal 
working, are only acting under the misguided and 
uncertain effects ofa heated imagination. Condemn 
notour institutions — fortheyofler equal rights to 
all, and monojwly and oppression to none — for 
by so doing you are casting an imputation upon 
your own ancestry, and offering an insult to the 
spirit that conceived and the genius that brought 
forth the most complete plan of popular rights 
that has ever been devised; and which, like a 
•political earthquake, is shaking the solid foun- 
• dation of European thrones. Let our glorious sun 
be extinguished in the political firmament, and 
it will be succeeded by a long political night, the 
darkness of which will only be dispelled by the 
splendid dawn of the morn of that grand millen- 
nium that is to renovate the world. 

Sir, there are no conditions upon which I, or 
the constituency which I have the honor to rep- 
resent, can give up this Union; and I would be 
recreant to the duty which I owe to myself, to 
them, and to all posterity, if i were in the slight- 
est degree to favor such an idea. And in order 
that I may be clearly understood, I believe that 
this Government possesses the power within itself 
to perpetuate its own existence; for if it does not, 
or if it never did, or if the salt has lost its savor, 
the sooner it is known the better; the sooner it 
is thrown out and trodden under foot of men, of 
aspirants,of demogogues, the better. We ought 
not for another day to be thus placing our exalted 
hopes of empire upon the baseless fabric of this 
vision. 

What is our condition to-day } The credit of 
our nation sacrificed and destroyed by the spirit 
of faction; and whereas but three months ago we 
could have commanded the confidence and coffers 
of Europe to the extent of $100,000,000, at the 
very smallest rate of interest, we cannot to-day 
keep up our current expenses, in loans from our 
own citizens, at the heavy rate of twelve percent. 
Her trade is paralyzed, her industry checked, her 
citizens thrown out of employment, her manufac- 
turing establishments stopped, her merchants and 
business men clamoring, and her agricultural in- 
terests, the certain source of her real wealth, com- 
pletely prostrated. Her States -seceding, her ports, 
arsenals, forts, castles, and dock-yards seized, her 
vessels taken and fired into, her flag torn from its 
place, insulted, and hurled to the dust; and all by 
the madness of faction, and our people seemingly 
bent upon their own ruin. 

Mr. Speaker, are wc thus suddenly to be cut 



off without hope, and destroyed without remedy ." 
I l>elieve, for the present, it is the duty of the 
Government to protect her properly, to keep open 
her ports and collect her revenue; and, if that is 
coercion, we are for coercion to that extent. My 
colleague, [Mr. Pendleton,] in his masterly and 
eloquent speech and his most ingenious and able 
argument, mistook the v.'hole cause of the Amer- 
ican Rtvolution upon which he based his elegant 
and eloquent remarks. Did the American people 
refuse to pay their taxes r Did they refuse to pay 
the revenue.' Did they refuse to pay their duties.' 
Did they refuse titese obligations to the English 
Gov<iinment.' They did. But what was the cause.' 
It was because these things were imposed upon 
them without their consent, and it was taxation 
without representation. They had laws put upon 
them which they had no say in making, and the 
enforcement of which was undertaken against a 
free and independent people without their consent; 
and they didjust what they ought to have done; 
they resisted; and in that bold resistance they re- 
ceived the sympathy of all civilized nations and 
the support of the empire of France. 

But, sir, has not every State an equal represent- 
ation in the national Legislature ? Is the people of 
any section taxed without representation; and 
have not all the revenue laws found upon our 
statute-books been passed by this Congress, and 
received the signature of the Executive of the 
Union .- Why, sir, so jealous is this Government 
of the rights of the whole people, that the Terri- 
tories, which in reality are our colonies, and 
occupy about the same position to us that we in 
our colonial condition sustained to the English 
Government, are exempt from the obligations of 
taxation; and, because they have not a full repre- 
sentation upon this floor, the whole expenses of 
> the government of a Territory are defrayed by 
; the national Government. And, with all due 
! deference to the opinions of my distinguished 
colleague, I must consider it as unjust to this 
I magnificent Government, and to the constituents 
of every Representative upon this floor, to even 
compare the workings of our free institutions to 
the tyranny and oppression of the English Gov- 
ernment, which aroused the outraged and insulted 
colonies to a successful resistance. The Ameri- 
i can Revolution is the most brilliant and glorious 
1 in history, simply because it was founded upon 
i right and justice and resistance to tyrants. The 
I present secession movement is beneath the dig- 
nity of the American people, because it presents 
\ the humiliating spectacle to the world of the 
bravest and most chivalrous people upon earth 
fleeing in the advance ofa mere ghost of tyranny, 
a specter painted upon the imaginary map of a 
distant future. Sir, did the American colonies 
! act upon the unreal imagery of fancy, or the cer- 
tain earnestness ofa devoted truth.' 
, Sir, in the present position of the crisis, I am 
' opposed to coercing any of these seceding States, 
' because I believe the tramp and tread of hostile 
1 armies would in reality place our people at a re- 
! turnless distance from each other. And I believe 
that the whole question is yet within the reach 
I and arrangements of the arts of peace. I believe 
that concession and compromise is now, as it has 
! been on many occasions heretofore, potent in the 
' full adjustment of every difficulty that now besets 
I us. The satisfactory adjustment of this whole 



question is yet within the hands of the Republi- 
can party; they hold in their hands the destiny 
of this mighty empire, and it yet remains to be 
demonstrated to the country and to the world 
wliether they will hold on to their platform at the 
expense of the Republic, — whether they will hold 
on to the shadow at the expense of the substanre. 
The eagle eye of a distracted a)id disturbed na- 
tion is upon them; and will they pour oil ujion 
its troubled waters? And though the General Gov- 
ernment may possess the full right to coerce a 
State, in the pijesent disturbed condition of the 
southern mind, it would be ruinous in its results, 
for this seceding movement has the sympathy, 
and, in case of war, would have the support, of 
every southern State; and it would be bringing 
twelve million determined and brave people in 
collision with eighteen, and God only knows what 
would be the end of such a contest: but there is 
one thing certain, it would be the end of the 
American Republic. 

Now, sir, there are propositions upon which 
these questions can be fully settled; and it is the 
duty of all parties to throw aside all platforms 
and come forward to the rescue. Let us resort 
to concession and compromise; for in this we 
have the precept and example of Qlay and Web- 
ster, Calhoun, Cass, and Jackson, and all others 
of the great statesmen who have graced our halls 
of legislation. But, sir, we cannot pursue this 
all-absorbing question any further, but mustturn 
out attention to the great West, the region v.'hich 
we more immediately represent. We cannot have 
secession; we cannot tolerate separation; we can- 
not listen to dissolution, for, in that event, we are 
ruined. And i say here to-day, that there are 
eight million people loyal to the Constitution and 
faithful to the Union, occupying that vast valley, 
who will never suffer the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi river to go beyond their control without the 
utmost strife. We are told here by gentlemen 
that the southern confederacy, when formed, do 
not design to close that natural highway against 
the great West. But stop, gentlemen, and listen 
to reason: when that southern confederacy is 
formed, it will be as much a foreign Power, as 
far as we are concerned, as France was at the 
time we made our purchase; it was then closed 
i^gainst us; and if it falls into the hands of a for- 
eign Power, it will be again. But again: wc are 
told that the necessities of trade will kee]i it per- 
jietually opento the entemrisingof all that mighty 
region which it drains. That may do for the sun- 
shine of peace; but the clouds of war may over- 
shadow, and then will you allow the free naviga- 
tion of the Mississippi river .' No, sir; our trade 
will be cut off: our products will rot upon our 
hands; and our whole commercial and agricul- 
tural interests will be ruined. 

Again: we are asked if we doubt the honor and 
integrity of our southern brethren. We do not, 
while you remain part and parcel of us, but a.s 
soon as you separate without cause or provoca- 
tion from us, we will have to regard you, as we 
regard all other foreigners, enemies in war, in 
peace, friends. And why are you this day refus- 
ing to trust the Republican party, upon a legal 
and constitutional election, with the reins of this 
Government.' It is because it is sectional in its 
feelings and forms, and pledged to the doctrine of 
<hc"ftTeJ^essible conflict, and to the final exterm- 



ination of your own peculiar institution. Now, 
I sir, there is no power upon earth to which we 
! will silently yield to take peaceable posses.sion of 
I that river; for, gentlemen, st any hour, with n 
very slight expense of blood and. treasure, you 
I can close that stream against us, and ruin our 
' peculiar institutions. 

Mr. Speaker, it v/as at the urgent demand of 
the people of the Northwest that the mouth of 
the Mississippi was purchased. When we wen- 
but one half million people, we soon discovered 
that the products of that vast region must find an 
outlet at some point; and naturally turning our 
eyes upon the Mississippi, we saw at once that 
tliat was the outlet to that wliole firoductive coun- 
try; but it was in the hands of a foreign Power. Wn 
demanded its acquisition at the hands of Mr. Jef- 
ferson, who was then President of the United 
States. He examined the Consiiuition,and was 
led to the conclusion that that instrument did not 
vest the power in the General Government to make 
such a purchase. Sir, he was told that there was 
a power above the Constitution; and that was the 
voice of the people: and he looked again to that 
article, and he found that it was inserted there 
that " all powers not delegated by this Constitu- 
tion are reserved to the States and people;" and 
finding nothing there prohibiting such an arrange- 
ment, he concluded he had the authority; and, 
under that supposition, he added to the Union 
that grand and fertile region, and thereby ob- 
tained for us the mouth of the Mississippi; and 
can it be imagined for a moment that, at this day, 
we will give it over to seceders to satisfy their in- 
satiable thirst for power.' We are now nine mil- 
lion jieople; our wealth has amounted to the sum 
of $700,000,000; we have advanced more rapidly 
than any other region; we have the most loyal 
population in the country; we are for the Union 
of these States, the whole Union as it is; we are 
for each and every right of each and every citizen. 
And do they suppose that we will give up our 
right to that mighty stream.' If they do, they arc 
miserably mistaken. 

Then, sir, let these vexed questions be settled 
at every hazard; for, viewing them in their most 
favorable light, they will bring upon the nation all 
the terrible consequences of civil war, bloodshed, 
and rapine. And are you willing, to-day, to have 
Lincoln, like tlu- ancient emperors of Mexico, 
installed into the Chief Magistracy of the Ameri- 
can Republic over a hecatomb of human sacri- 
fices.- Recollect that but a few months ago you 
were asserting that the election of your candidate 
would give peace and prosperity and happiness 
to the nation, and that confidence would be fully 
restored; and in the short space o*" three months 
after that event, are you demanding at the hands 
of the nation the powers of the Army and Navy, 
not to repel foreign aggression, but to butcher and 
destroy your own citizens. Sir, I do not believe 
that this can be: I do not believe that the end of 
the Republic is yet; but I believe there is yet suf 
ficient moral force to repel all physical force, and 
that the nation will again be restored to its ori- 
ginal exalted position among the nations of the 
earth, and yet remain as an evidence of the capa- 
city of this people for self-government. 

There are men yet living who were present at 
the birth of the Republic; and shall they survive as 
mourners around its grave? Shall the soldiers 



i 



8 



of the Revolution survive to see the splendid fab- 
ric erected by themselves totter to its fall ? for a 
few of them remain as the last rays of the set- 
ting sun upon the loftiest mountain peak. I be- 
lieve that the nations demand at our hand, to set- 
tle this question in harmony and peace; and he 
who fails to do it, or determines to do otherwise, 
will bring: upon himself the perpetual infamy of 
an injured and outraged people. The question is 
not, shall we adhere to our own political notions? 
but the question is, shall we be plunged in a civil 
war, or shall our nation still continue to shed 
forth the benign influences of peace? 

Recollect that from the smallest causes some- 
times flow the mightiest results. A princess of 
the house of Austria once carelessly remarked, 
that kings and potentates should pay no more 
attention to the voice of the people than to the 
barking of dogs; and this single observation so 
inflamed the public mind in France that that same 
princess, in the short space of a few years, saw 
the heads of kings and princes rolling from be- 
neath the ax of the guillotine like autumn leaves 
after a desolate storm ; and that storm did not cease 
till it had driven religion from its sanctuary, virtue 
from her empire, and government from existence, 
and finally brought about those terriblecampaigns 
that desolated every division of Europe, and one 
million one hundred thousatid men were at one 
time arrayed in hostile combat against each other. 
Then, I believe that this day this national Legis- 
lature holds within its control the destiny of thirty 
million people. Allow it to slip unimproved be- 
yond your power; allow the American people an 
appeal to arms in the adjustment of theirimagined 
rights, and you will be responsible for its results; 
for you hold in your hands the olive branch of 
peace. 

What American citizen does not feel a glow of 
pride thrill his very soul to see the present Exec- 
utive, in the declining days of his administration, 
standing by the Constitution and Union, enforcing 
the national Ikws, elevating our flag, and showing 
a determination at all hazards to preserve and per- 
petuate our national honor? AVho does not ad- 
mire the brave and chivalrous Major Anderson, 
who, in the integrity of his heart, with an iron 
will, a patriotic spirit, and a firm resolution, is 
standing by his own and his nation's glory? He 
will never allow that flag that he has been sent to 
protect to trail in the dust. Let him, as a gallant 
soldier, be firm and unwavering in the discharge 



of his duty; for the burning focus of the nation's 
eye is upon him as one of her noblest sons. The 
indelible expression of human gratitude is coming 
up from every part of an injured nation; and the 
ceaseless homage of all posterity will identify his 
name with the history of his country. 

I am willing to go for the Crittenden proposition, 
not that it meets my own political views — for they 
are in direct opposition to many of my notions of 
policy — but I believe that it will settle the-present 
difficulties more fully and satisfactofffy than any 
other before this body and the cquntry. It comes 
from a statesman whose experience reaches 
through three fourths of our constitutional exist- 
ence, and who certainly understands, as well as 
any other man living, the spirit of our institutions, 
and the theory of our Government. It comes 
from a statesman who is not ultra, but conserva- 
tive, in his whole political policy, and in favor of 
the Constitution and Union, and the enforcement 
of the laws. It comes from a patriot who, like 
myself, does not believe that there is any question 
upon which he could consent to give up this Union; 
but who believes that all national questions are 
within the reach and adjustment of the arts of 
peace. 

Mr. Speaker, we believe that if the patriots who 
lived in the past could speak from their last rest- 
ing place, they would say to the national Legis- 
lature, settle that all-absorbing question, for it is 
incompatible in principle for people of the same 
blood to be disputing over a mere abstraction. If 
we could listen to the voice of the thirty million 
freemen who inhabit this great aiul growing coun- 
try, it would fall like thunder tones on this Con- 
gress, commanding it to arrange this detestable 
question, for it is only uselessly disturbing the 
peace of a people that should live together in har- 
monious unison. If we could listen to the two 
hundred million oppressed and downtrodden Eu- 
ropeans, they would say to us, perpetuate the 
American Republic in peace, for it is a terrible 
example to trembling tyrants upon their crum- 
bling thrones. If we could hear the language of 
the oppressed of the whole civilized earth, they 
would say to this Congress, keep the American flag 
waving in triumph over your whole nation; for 
among whatever people it is seen, over whatever 
ocean it is flying, in whatever port it makes its 
appearance, all people are pointing to it, and ex- 
claiming, Behold the flag of liberty, that is taking 
away the slavery and oppression of the world! 



Printed at the office of the Congressional Globe. 



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